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2ND DEC 2008
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How about spending Christmas in Australia, many students choose to spend Christmas with the family, which of course is great, but imagine spending it on a beach with a bbq and new found friends!
Events
Christmas is part of the long summer school vacation and during December and January you can be forgiven for thinking that half of Australia is on holiday. This is when accommodation is almost always booked out.
Australia's arts festivals attract culture vultures from all over Australia to see mainstream and fringe drama, dance, music and visual arts. The huge Festival of Sydney, which takes up most of January, is the umbrella for a number of events from open air concerts, to street theatre and fireworks. The Adelaide Arts Festival takes place at the beginning of March in even-numbered years. In odd-numbered years, Womadelaide, Adelaide's outdoor festival of world music and dance, takes care of February. Melbourne has a Comedy Festival in February, the world's biggest Writers' Festival in September and the fabulous Melbourne International Festival in October. A couple of festivals to celebrate Aboriginal arts and culture include the Stompen Ground Festival, which is held in Broome in October and the Barunga Wugularr Sports & Cultural Festival, held near Katherine in June.
Sporty fun includes Darwin's Beer Can Regatta in August, when a series of boat races are held for craft constructed entirely of beer cans; Alice Spings holds the Henley-on-Todd, a boat race 'run' on a dry river bed. More mainstream events include the Sydney to Hobart yacht race (from Boxing Day); the Australian Open tennis championship (Melbourne in January); the Australian Grand Prix (Melbourne in March); Australian Rules Football (around the country from March to September); and the country-stopping Melbourne Cup on the first Tuesday in November.
Gay festivals include Sydney's massive, outlandish Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras, in February/March, and Melbourne's January/February Midsumma Festival.
 Money & Costs
Currency: Australian dollar
Relative Costs:
Meals
# Budget: US$3-5
# Mid-range: US$6-14
# Top-end: US$15 and upwards
Lodging
# Budget: US$6-17
# Mid-range: US$18-55
# Top-end: US$60 and upwards
If you're coming from Europe or the USA, Australia is going to look pretty cheap. Food, in particular, is great value. Accommodation is also reasonably priced, and if you're staying in hostels or on-site caravans or camping, and mostly making your own meals you could conceivably get by on about US$20 to US$25 a day. Travel will be your biggest expense - distances are long - so if you're moving around a bit, eating out once or twice a day and staying in budget hotels, plan for around US$50 a day. If you're only coming for a couple of weeks and plan to take a few internal flights, you'll be looking at more like US$100 a day. You'll have no problems changing foreign currencies or cash at almost any bank or exchange bureau. Travellers cheques generally get a better rate than cash, though banks take out a commission. Credit cards (particularly Visa and MasterCard) are widely accepted (and pretty much compulsory if you're going to rent a car), and ATMs all over the country accept credit and Cirrus cards.
Tipping is getting a foothold in Australia, particularly in cafes and restaurants in the bigger cities - 5-15% is the usual. However, you won't be looked down upon if you don't tip. Taxi drivers are always grateful if you leave the change.
Provided by The Student Zone (United Kingdom) |
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